Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The newest Warhammer Fantasy
expansion – Triumph and Treachery is an expansion which features rules for
playing 3, 4 or even 5 player games of Warhammer.The game features new and unique rules to
ensure that there is a singular winner at the end of game whether they triumph
on the field of battle or use treachery to bring down friend and foe
alike.

The game takes a very “Highlander-esque”
approach to a multi-player battle where alliances are forged and then shattered
in the blink of an eye, where intrigue and illusion can make or break a player,
and where your allies and enemies may swap positions every round.

In the end however, there can be only one…

In
order to properly explain Triumph and Treachery, it would be best to describe
the new Rules provided in this expansion.

1.Trust No
One - this section provides rules for battles fought with 3 or more
players.

2.Victory
Tokens – a new resource system for keeping track of who is winning the
multi-player battle.

3.Treachery
Cards – these are special cards that allow you to pull off dastardly ploys
or help an ally in need.

4.Mercenaries
– these are rules for adding Mercenary companies to your roster from other
armies.

5.Triumph
and Treachery Scenarios – they have provided three distinct scenarios
specifically designed for the Triumph and Treachery rule set.

Trust No One

The Trust
No One rule is the core rule of the Triumph and Treachery expansion.There are several rule subsets and existing
rules that have been modified to accommodate multiple players using this rule
in the game.It really boils down to a
simple explanation however: when a player takes a turn, they pick an opposing
player at the start of each phase to be their ‘enemy player’ for the
phase.Only units belonging to the enemy
player may be attacked or targeted.

1.Player Turn Cards – this game comes
with 5 different player turn cards that are represented by a certain weapon or
item (sword, axe, shield, hammer and staff).Each player draws a card at the beginning of the game and notes which
icon they drew as that will be their icon for the duration of the game.The cards are then shuffled back into a pile.

2.Determine Turn Order – at the beginning
of every game turn of a multi-sided battle, the player turn card deck is
shuffled and the top card is turned over.The icon that is showing will denote who’s turn it is, after that player
has finished their entire turn then another card is flipped until all player
turns have been performed and the deck reshuffled.

3.Friends and Enemies – The game
progresses much like any normal game of Warhammer only at the beginning of each
phase, the player whose turn it is must designate who the enemy player is for that turn.

The following rules apply to the enemy player:

·All units belonging to the player whose turn it
is are considered friendly units.

·All units belonging to the player designated as
the enemy player are considered
enemy units.

·All units belonging to neutral players are neutral units for that turn.

Neutral units may not be
targeted or attacked in any way.That
means that:

·Neutral units may not attack, dispel or carry
out any other actions

·Neutral units can not be hit by attacks that use
templates or markers, attacks that scatter or attacks that randomly determine
who is hit, or by spells or game effects that affect ‘any unit’ with a certain
distance.

·Neutral units do not count for combat results
and cannot cause disruption or affect a combat in any way.They can’t flee or pursue, and are fled
through in the same manner as an enemy unit.

Neutral units to do not take
part in the phase and thus are unaffected by what happens during that phase.

4.Game
Phases –there are several small changes to the player turn phases as they
pertain to the neutral and enemy player designation.

A.Movement Phase – Charges may only be
performed against Enemy units.Neutral
units serve as impassible terrain.

B.Magic Phase – Only the enemy player receives
dispel dice, and only the enemy player may be chosen as the target for spells
(other than augment spells which affect friendly units).Spells that have Remains in Play effects or
that causes effects every magic phase do not affect neutral units.

C.Shooting Phase – Only enemy units may be
targeted.Templates or marker weapons do
not affect neutral units.

D.Close Combat Phase – If friendly units are
in combat with units from only one opposing army then that army’s player must
be chosen as the enemy player for the Close Combat phase.If friendly units are in combat with units
belonging to two or more opposing players, then one player must be chosen as
the enemy player and a Truce is called with the neutral player.Attacks are only exchanged between friendly
and enemy units.

Truces: When a truce is
called in Close Combat, all neutral units in base contact with a friendly unit
must be moved 1” away.If the unit can
not move due to impassible terrain or any other reason, they remain in base to
base but take no part in the close combat phase.

5.Roll Offs – In a multiple player game,
the winner of a roll off then determines the order of actions for all players
that took part in the roll off.In the
event of a tie, the tied players roll off again to determine the winner.

Victory Tokens

The Victory Token mechanic
is a fast and easy way to measure the accumulation of victory points for each
player.These Victory Tokens not only
serve as a representation of each players running victory point total, but also
serve a currency for bribing an opponent or hiring mercenaries.

1.Coin
Designation:

A.Brass
Coin = 50 Victory Points

B.Silver
Coin = 150 Victory Points

C.Gold
Coin = 250 Victory Points

D.Gold
Ingot = 1500 Victory Points

Unless the Mercenaries rule is being used, every player
starts out with 2 Brass Coins.

2.Graining Victory Tokens – At the end of
each phase, the player will receive a victory token for every 50 Victory Points
they scored that phase (any excess points are lost).Example: If player A scores 313 Victory
Points in the Close Combat Phase then he would receive 1 Gold Coin and 1 Brass
Coin with the remaining 13 VP’s are discarded.

The player who scored the most
Victory Points in a phase will receive a single bonus Brass Coin (or each
player if there is a tie).

3.Using Victory Tokens – A player’s
collection of Victory Tokens are referred to as a paychest.The player who has
the largest paychest at the end of the game is declared the winner.

A player may use their Victory
Tokens in various ways, they may use them to bribe another player to perform an
action or bribe a mercenary unit.You
may use them to award a player for an action they performed that benefited
you.You may also promise to pay a
player then be a treacherous cur and double cross them with no payment!Not all players are honorable on the field of
battle!

Treachery Cards

Perhaps my most favorite
mechanic in this game is the addition of these Treachery Cards.These are player
cards that allow you to perform actions and countermeasures against either your
opponent or another player during anyone’s turn.These actions may aid you, hamper them, help
an ally or punish an adversary.The
Treachery Cards add a certain amount of uncertainty and chaos to his already
hectic multiplayer battle.

1.Gaining
Treachery Cards - Players may gain
treachery cards in the following ways:

·Automatically at the start of each game turn.

·By rolling successfully in any phase in which
they are a neutral player.

·By making a dirty deal to get cards from another
player.

A.Start
of Turn Cards – At the start of every game turn each player gets a specific
number of cards dependent upon their paychest.If the player has the biggest paychest then they get 1 card, if the
player has the smallest paychest they get 3 cards while the rest get 2 cards
each.This is a good mechanic as it
helps give an edge to the players that are currently “losing” and will provide
them with a better arsenal of tricks to help them gain the upper hand.

B.Neutral
Player Cards – Immediately after the player chooses the “enemy player”, all the
neutral players get a chance to gain a Bonus Treachery Card.Each player rolls a D6, in a 3 person game a
roll of 5 or 6 grants a bonus card while in games of 4-5 players only a 6
yields a bonus card.

C.Dirty
Deals – Players may give cards from their hand to another player.This is known as a Dirty Deal.What goes on in order to broker said deals is
up to each player!

D.Hand
Size – Players are limited to a hand size of five cards.If a player has more than five cards in their
hand, they must immediately discard and may not play cards until they are down
to five cards.

E.Discarded
Cards – Treachery cards are reshuffled into the deck once the existing
Treachery deck has been exhausted.

F.Treachery
Cards - Each Treachery Card has a Title, a Description and an Effect.Specific issues that may arise have been
addressed by the Card Commentaries section of the rulebook.

Mercenaries

In the Triumph and Treachery
game the players have the opportunity to hire Mercenary companies to fight at
their side.Each player will receive extra
points to spend on Mercenary Units for their army.The number of points each player receives is
100 points for every 500 points they have in their army (example a 2,500 point
army will have 500 points to spend on Mercenaries).

1.Hiring
Mercenaries - Using the extra points generated for Mercenary units, the
player may choose to employ Mercenaries from any army book they choose (except
that a player may not hire Mercenaries from the same army book as their army
being used).When a player hires
Mercenaries they hire what are called Mercenary Companies.The Mercenary Company must contain at least
one character to serve as the Mercenary Captain.All units in the Mercenary Company within 6”
of the Mercenary Captain may use his Leadership value in place of their own.

2.Unspent
Mercenary Points – If a player has unspent points after hiring Mercenaries,
they may convert those unspent points to Victory Tokens (provided they have
enough points to exchange them in for tokens) otherwise they are lost.

3.Loyalty –
All mercenary models suffer -1 to their Leadership Value.Should a mercenary unit flee and pass a Rally
test, they must immediately roll on a table and apply the result.On a 1-4 the Mercenary Company has all the
players roll off.The winner now
controls the Mercenary Company.Loyalty
comes at a price!On a 5-6 the Mercenary
Company remains loyal to their patron (for the time being).

4.Bribing
Mercenaries – At the start of any phase, a player may attempt to bribe a
mercenary unit by spending Victory Tokens.If the bribe is successful, the mercenary unit will stand back and do
nothing that phase.Attempts to bribe
may be performed after the enemy player has been designated for that phase and
after all neutral players have rolled to see if they get Bonus Treachery
Cards.Fleeing units may not be
bribed.A bribe is performed by placing
a certain amount of Victory Tokens by the Mercenary Unit.The controlling player (or other neutral
player also trying to bribe the Mercenaries) then has the opportunity try to “outbid”
the bribe by beating the amount of Victory Tokens bid by the neutral
players.If the controlling player
successfully outbids the neutral players, the unit functions as normal.After the bidding has been performed, all
Victory Tokens used to bribe are swept back into the Victory Token pile and
count as spent.

Triumph and
Treachery Scenarios

There
are three scenarios provided in the Triumph and Treachery set.Each scenario has its own unique scenario
special rules that yield additional victory points to each player along with
unique deployment options.

The Triumph and Treachery Boxed Set comes with a hardback
96 page rulebook providing you with rules, lore and modeling showcases.It comes with a large amount of cardboard
embossed victory tokens denoting different amounts as well as 5 Player Cards
and 36 Treachery Cards.I will go ahead
and say that while the game is awesome and has potential to be a fantastic
expansion, it was not worth the price that Games Workshop charged for it.

In the end, I will go ahead and say that this expansion
is a great way to diversify your collection.It allows players to collect that one awesome unit they have always
liked but never wanted to field the entire army for.It also allows for players to forge a whole
new narrative based on the epic battles they may engage in with multiple
foes.The sheer chaotic element that the
Treachery cards introduces can swing battles in a single turn back and forth,
and in one fell swoop close the gap between someone who was a “runaway” winner
and someone who was getting ganged up on.The fact that you may choose different enemies every phase is incredibly
fun and tactical.You could in the
movement phase charge the unit you wish to annihilate, designate another player
with little or no magic defense as your enemy in the magic phase and buff your
unit, then in the shooting phase and close combat phase chose the player you
charged as your enemy again.You could
bribe your opponents mercenaries while making a deal with another player to
wipe out another player’s big unit then in the next phase turn on the player
you just made a deal with and blow up his special units.This game has a LOT of opportunity for
memorable and fun experiences where you can never really be sure where you stand
with your fellow players until the last turn has passed and everyone’s
paychests are being counted.

The Deployment Zone Podcast will be providing a gameplay
example of Triumph and Treachery during their Chaos Christmas Episode which
will be recorded on Dec. 1st

Monday, November 25, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 4 of the Black
Spiral Campaign.I first off would like
to thank everyone who submitted their games for Chapter 3.We received 75 submissions for Chapter 3
which brings the grand total of submissions to 161 for the campaign thus
far.This will be the final player phase
of the Black Spiral Campaign at which point after this phase I will post the
resolution and announce the winners of the lotto.You may expect the Black Spiral Campaign
Finale before the New Year as I will give the 4th chapter until
December 22nd.With that
said, I would like to thank everyone for playing and enjoy the scenarios for
Chapter 4 – The Mouth of Madness!

[[Pictrecorder on the bridge of The Silent Retribution,
Dauntless-Class Light Cruiser]]

[Imperial Date is the 30th day of the 3rd
Lunar Cycle of the Maccabes system, in the year M41.639]

Captain Jonah
Orrealus – Lieutenant, I need a status report.

Lt. Aaron Maxwell – Yes sir, we have
crippled one of the Nightshade Class Destroyers and have forced the Dragon
Class Cruiser to retreat due to heavy damage suffered on the last pass.The last Nightshade Class Destroyer is
circling again for another run and the Hellebore class Frigate is currently
engaged with two wings of our fighters.Our shields are running at 13% capacity and we have suffered damage
along our bow and left flank along with one of our plasma reactors will need to
be jettisoned soon in order to avoid detonation should they breach not be
repaired.Unless we can disable the
Nightshades we may not be able to disengage and reach the warp gate.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – I think I have an idea.Captain how many IXV-39’s do you have on this ship?

Captain Jonah
Orrealus – We keep 18 on hand sir along with 4 Incinerators.I do not think they will have much of an
effect on the ships sir, they are world killers.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Thank you Captain I am aware of their capabilities and
uses.Lieutenant, would you attempt to hail
the Dragon Class Cruiser?

Lt. Aaron Maxwell –
At once my Lord Inquisitor.Sir the
Dragon Class Cruiser is responding, on screen in a moment.

Farseer Gilleath –
Have you decided to surrender
Inquisitor and turn over the Black Spiral to my people?

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – No, actually quite the opposite witch.You are going to call off your attack on my
ship immediately and retreat out of our engagement zone.My men recovered the artifact yesterday and brought
it to the ship.However while they were
slaughtering your shrine guardians, one of your kind begged them not to reunite
the four pieces.I currently only have
three.So you are going to tell me where
the fourth piece is located and you will tell me now.

Farseer Gilleath -
You amuse me
Monkeigh, your ship is heavily damaged.You are outnumbered 4 to 1 and you have no chance of escaping this
battle alive yet you give me demands?Your race never fails to shock and amuse me with its irrational displays
of illogical behavior.You will turn
over the three pieces you have collected of the Black Spiral so that we may
properly lock it away like we should have eons ago.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – This is what is going to happen you degenerate witch.You will tell me what I want to know
otherwise I will unload every single IXV-39 aboard this ship upon the surface
of this world that your kind has inhabited.In case you were unaware of what an IXV-39 does, it is a virus bomb that
exterminates all life on a planet.It
reduces all organic matter into a grey sludge as the virulent toxins, viruses and
bacteria in these bombs spread through the atmosphere in minutes.Within minutes most of the world is dead or
dying with little hope of survival.The
mass death of organic matter then releases incredible amounts of combustible
gases into the atmosphere which we then ignite reducing this planet to a
scorched, lifeless and uninhabitable rock forever more.So how about you tell this “monkeigh” what he
wishes to know.

Farseer Gilleath
– You would kill an entire planet in the
pursuit of your madness?

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Really now Farseer, you result to insults?I take that as your refusal to meet my terms
then?Captain would you be so kind as to
begin the firing sequen…

Farseer Gilleath – No!I will tell you what you need to know.Just know that if you continue down this path it will only end with your
destruction.The Black Spiral was
dismantled because it became a threat to the…

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Yes, yes, yes.Threat to the cosmos and so on…Now where is the last part of the Black Spiral Farseer?My patience is wearing thin.

Farseer Gilleath –
Fine, fine.When the Black Spiral was fired, it caused a
deadly backlash that destroyed much of the ship it was housed upon.We were unable to separate part of the weapon
from the ship so we sent the ship adrift into the far reaches of space where it
has been hidden for millennia.I will
send you the coordinates as to where the ship was last seen when we last
patrolled the region.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Lieutenant have your people received the coordinates?

Lt. Aaron Maxwell – Yes Lord
Inquisitor.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Is there anything else you would care to share with us
Farseer before we depart?Do you have any
dire portents or warnings about cataclysmic events that will happen once I have
this weapon?Cause now would be a good
time to regale me with such tales.

Farseer Gilleath –
You are foolish human, the Black
Spiral will be the death of you.I beg
you to please stop this madness now.Stop it before it’s too late.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Very well, thank you Farseer your cooperation has been
most helpful.As a reward for your
assistance, Captain initiate the firing sequence of the IXV-39’s immediately.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx –Farewell
Farseer.Have a nice day.Lieutenant cut the feed.Captain as soon as the firing sequence is
done I want you to eject the plasma core into space behind us and detonate it
when the Eldar craft comes close.That
should buy us some time to escape.

Captain Jonah
Orrealus – Virus bombing complete sir, 4 minutes until incendiaries are
launched into the atmosphere.We will
also be able to eject the plasma core then and travel enough distance from it
by then.

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx – Very well Captain, until them try to keep us alive so that
we may escape this foray and set a course for the coordinates the witch
provided us.

Lt. Aaron Maxwell –
Sir! Plasma core detonated right next to the Nightshade Class
Destroyer.She seems to be limping off
and looks heavily damaged!

[End Recording]

[[Coded Inquisitorial Missive – Vermillion Level
Clearance]]

[[Access Level – Verified]]

[[Decoding Message]]

Inquisitor
Leviticus Hexx has been reported to have virus bombed a planet without the
sanction of the council.It seems the
planet he unleashed the full complement of virus bombs upon was what the Eldar
refer to as an “exodite” or “maiden” world.Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx has collected three out of four of the pieces
to this “Black Spiral” arcaneotech that the Eldar Farseer referred to that Hexx
has been hunting.His actions could lead
to all out war with several Eldar craftworlds unless steps are taken.

Vindicare
Assassins have been dispatched.

In the Emperor’s Name,

Lord Inquisitor Aleksander Rustov

Ordo Hereticus

[[Deleting Message…]]

Mission Scenario A
– The Space Hulk

The Armies:

A point value of any size may be per side in this
scenario.Recommended size however is
1500-2000.

The Battlefield:

The Space Hulk will use the Hammer and Anvil deployment.As this is a Space Hulk, it is recommended that the players try to
create a Battlefield that closely resembles the massive interior of an ancient
eldar Space Hulk.

Deployment:

Before deploying their forces, players should first roll
for their Warlord Traits.Once the
Warlord Traits have been determined, the players will roll off to determine who
is The Attacker and The Defender.Both
players will then roll off and the winner will choose which side they want to
deploy in.

Place the Primary
Objective:

The Defender will choose a single Primary objective and
place it within their deployment zone.

The Defender will then deploy their forces followed by
the Attacker afterwards.

First Turn:

The Attacker goes first unless the Defender spots them
coming and can Seize the Initiative.

Game Length:This mission uses variable game length as described on page 122 of the BRB.

Special Mission
Rules:

1.Damaged
Gravity Well – This Space Hulk has a damaged gravity well so at the start
of every game turn (not player turn) the player who’s turn it is rolls a die.

If a 1 is rolled then the Gravity Well has overcompensated.Movement, Assault Rolls, Running, and Fleeing
all have their distance reduced by 1”.Also, all Flyers and Monstrous Flying Creatures must make roll a die
before they initiate their movement.On
a “1” they are forced to go into Hover or Gliding
mode or they will crash/be grounded.

All ranged weapons also have their range reduced by 1”.

All scatter rolls have their deviation rolls reduced by 1”.

If a 2-5 is rolled then the Gravity Well is working properly.No penalties.

If a 6 is rolled then the Gravity Well has undercompensated and all
Movement, Assaults, Runs, Flee, Flying and Swooping distances are increased by
1”.

All ranged weapons also have their range increased by 1”.

All scatter rolls have their deviation increased by 1”.

2.Wraithbone
Ship – This Space Hulk is made from pyscho-plastic that serves as both a
psycho conductor and a psychic shield.

The Wraith Ship rule provides the following benefits:

a.Deny
the Witch rolls are increased by +1.(A
6+ becomes a 5+ etc..)

b.The
psyker may attempt to harness the psychic energy from the ship around
them.The player who’s turn it is may at
the beginning of their turn roll a D6.

If a 1 is rolled the Psyker suffers Perils
of the Warp from the psychic backlash.

If a 2-4 is rolled then nothing happens and the Pysker failed to harness
any psychic energy.

If a 5-6 is rolled then the Psyker gains 1 Warp Charge that must be used that turn.

The Mission:The Attacker

Primary Mission: Claim and Possess the Primary Objective
at the end of the game with a Scoring unit.

Secondary Mission: Purge
the Alien

The Defender

Primary Mission: Purge
the Alien

Secondary Mission: Claim and Possess the Primary
Objective at the end of the game with a Scoring unit.

Victory
Conditions:

Each Mission has its own Victory conditions.

Should the player meet the Victory Conditions for their
Primary Mission, then that player receives 5 Battle Points.Should that player also reach the Victory
Conditions for their Secondary Mission, then they receive 3 Battle Points.

The secondary objectives of Purge the Alien are worth 1
Battle Point each (Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker).

If a player had his psyker successfully harness a Warp
Charge using the Wraithbone Ship rule that is worth 1 Battle Point.

The player with the most Battle
Points or BP’s at the end is the winner of the scenario.

Please email the results to john@thedeploymentzone.com and I
will compile the results before I release the final campaign results.Please don’t hesitate to email me with
questions you may have about any of theabove missions.